Ants!

[HappyLucyLou]

Hi, wherever I dig in my garden there are ants, ants and more ants (black and red). They are all over the lawn, the flowerbeds and patio. I get gardens have ants, but should there be this many? I don't think it would be much of a problem to me if they were all black, but there's so many red ants, and given they are in the lawn too (and I've heard they bite??) I'm worried with the kids wanting to sit on the grass, play ball etc. It was similar last year - I tried using ant powder but it didnt really make a difference. Any advice? Do I just leave nature be or is there anything I can do? Any advice appreciated!

Also forgot to add, at some point I want to put my guinea pigs on the grass but obviously don't want them covered in ants - another reason why this is likely too many ants.

Let nature be I reckon. I think all ants bite but they are generally minding their own business do their own thing really.

Yep I agree. Leave them alone and they’ll leave you and the guinea pig alone. Try to identify where the nests are and get your kids to not sit on those?

The more you use the garden the less red ants you'll see. They like undisturbed areas

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The garden is used quite often as my children will play football on the grass, even in winter.

It's a struggle to identify any individual nest because currently the lawn appears to be one whole nest, wherever I stop and look there's holes with ants. It wouldn't be an issue if it was just a few nests - there's just so many. I wouldn't put a chair on the lawn and sit there for this reason (which feels a bit rubbish with the lovely weather)

My garden is similarly overrun with them, it gets worse year on year. Red ant bites bloody hurt. My husband genuinely thought he’d knelt on glass, and when my feet got bitten I was in agony. Absolutely nothing like the black ant bites, which nips but settles quickly.
I garden organically so for the most part let nature do it’s thing but this year I have ordered ant nematodes to try and clear a couple of spaces in the garden, particularly my greenhouse which is the latest place they have set up home.
Look into them as a possible solution to clear your lawn.

Thanks @queenrollo I will take a look at the nematodes.

Came on to recommend the nematodes, you have to apply them several times.

The benefit is that you can probably grow some really lovely hostas without the slugs getting them